Fifteen events are scheduled for this year’s festival, indicating once again the five-day affair has expanded in scope. The festival, whose chief organizer is public-relations specialist David Sabin, took its biggest leap in 2011, when it grew from a one-night walk-around event to a five-day extravaganza with national sponsors.

What do you do when the celebrity chef-studded 2013 Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival’s tickets go on sale next week?

Party and pop champagne corks.

Organizers of the Dec. 13-17 festival are throwing a kickoff bash on Wednesday (Sept. 18) to launch not only the festival’s ticket sales, but also its new website and poster—plus the revelation of its event lineup, which last year doubled in size after the 2011 fest quintupled to a five-day platform.

The kickoff party takes place at 6 p.m. at downtown West Palm Beach’s Pistache French Bistro, 101 N. Clematis St.